The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

The single fastest growing religious group of our time is those who check the box next to the word none on national surveys. In America, this is 20 percent of the population. Exactly who are the unaffiliated? What caused this seismic shift in our culture? Are our churches poised to reach these people?

James Emery White lends his prophetic voice to one of the most important conversations the church needs to be having today. He calls churches to examine their current methods of evangelism, which often result only in transfer growth--Christians moving from one church to another--rather than in reaching the "nones." The pastor of a megachurch that is currently experiencing 70 percent of its growth from the unchurched, White knows how to reach this growing demographic, and here he shares his ministry strategies with concerned pastors and church leaders.

James Emery White, PhD, is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church, a suburban megachurch in Charlotte, North Carolina, often cited as one of the fastest-growing church starts in the United States. Former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, White is the author of several books, including The Rise of the Nones, Meet Generation Z, Rethinking the Church, The Church in an Age of Crisis, and Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians. He lives in North Carolina.